


put lonesome on the shelf

by helloearthlings



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coffee Shops, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 04:15:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7559698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helloearthlings/pseuds/helloearthlings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was only natural that Gwen should meet the most beautiful woman in the world three minutes after spilling an espresso shot down the front of her shirt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	put lonesome on the shelf

**Author's Note:**

> Have I mentioned how cute Morgana and Gwen are recently?
> 
> This fic is inspired by two things. First of all, I work at a coffee shop, and every day, the most beautiful woman in the world comes in and orders a breve with an extra shot. Unlike Gwen, I have approximately zero chances with her, but this is very much based off of my coffee shop. Which brings me to my second point, which is that I have always hated coffee shop AUs. I thought they were boring. I hated them more once I worked in one, not because they're boring, but because coffee shops are miserable places where dreams go to die. At least when you're working there. And I wanted to make sure everyone knows that. 
> 
> Anyway, this is just...fluff. So much fluff. Hope you like!

It was only natural that Gwen should meet the most beautiful woman in the world three minutes after spilling an espresso shot down the front of her shirt.

“Hi, welcome to Take Five, can I get anything started for you?” Gwen hoped the brightness of her smile muted the effects of her stained work t-shirt, limp hair, and sweat trickling down the back of her neck.

“I’ll have a large iced breve with an extra shot of expresso, please,” the most beautiful woman in the world answered. Gwen had noticed her the moment she walked in the door, her long ebony hair in swirling curls set against pale skin, bright eyes highlighted by liberal mascara. She looked like she could have been anyone; a businesswoman, a housewife, even royalty, but she was just dressed in a pale pink t-shirt and cut-off denim shorts.

Gwen, on the other hand, was wearing a misshapen, blocky t-shirt with Take Five’s logo and a pair of worn jeans with six or seven stains on them.

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Not to mention the fact that she had only started this job last week and she had no idea what a breve was.

“Um,” Gwen started awkwardly, a blush rising to her cheeks, only adding to the miserable heat of the building, the air-conditioning having been broken hours ago. “I don’t…uh…just give me one second to find my coworker…”

“A breve is a latte made with half and half instead of milk.”

The most beautiful woman in the world had the most angelic voice and most sparkling smile in the world. She was also very benevolent, reading Gwen’s thoughts and taking pity on her poor, caffeine-addled brain.

“Thank you,” Gwen sighed, relieved. “I’ll have that right out for you.”

“It’s fine,” the most beautiful woman in the world laughed, and a halo seemed to appear above her head. “I come here all the time, so you’ll be getting this order often. I’m Morgana, by the way. I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new here?”

“Yes,” Gwen said, pausing before hurriedly adding, “I’m Gwen. This is my first week.”

“Well, good luck,” the most beautiful woman in the world – Morgana, which was the most beautiful name in the world, smiled. “How much do I owe you?”

Gwen quickly made the transaction before mixing the drink, and when she called the order out, Morgana gave her a smile and thanks, and Gwen wished beyond anything that she didn’t always look like a troll at work.

“She’s hot,” Merlin commented, sauntering toward Gwen from the kitchen, where he’d been fighting a losing battle with the dishwasher, as he was apt to do. A friend of hers, he was the one to let Gwen know about Take Five’s job opening in the first place, which meant this was all his fault. “You know her?”

“I wish,” Gwen sighed. “She looks _perfect._ She was so _nice._ And I look like I woke up in a dumpster this morning.”

“Look at it this way,” Merlin said brightly, reaching across Gwen to pull violently at this handle on the espresso machine. “She’s probably straight and it doesn’t matter in the first place.”

“Why am I friends with you?” Gwen moaned miserably, but she was smiling on the inside. Merlin was pretty much the best thing about working here, both because he was one of Gwen’s best mates, and even though he was a semi-manager, he still managed to fuck something up at least once a day, which gave Gwen hope for the future.

“Because I tell good jokes and pay for your bagels,” Merlin informed her lightly and Gwen grinned.

“Oh, yeah. Forgot about that.”

And so, as she was bombarded with another sixty zillion customers, she also forgot about Morgana.

* * *

 

Until the next day, when Morgana came in the door with a black lacy romper on and Gwen felt herself dying inside.

“Look alive,” Merlin nudged her lightly with his arm.

“Large iced breve…”

“With an extra shot,” Gwen finished for Morgana, the memory springing to her mind with startling clarity, and embarrassment crept up on her, for the air conditioning still wasn’t fixed, and Gwen was on hour seven of her shift, which meant she resembled a sticky puddle of goop more than a pretty girl. “I remembered.”

Morgana grinned at her, and the dying inside feeling came back full-force.

“I’ll get started on that,” Merlin reached around Gwen to grab a cup, and Gwen tried to make her way to the cash register without tripping or falling or dropping something.

“It’s steaming out there today,” Morgana said conversationally as she handed Gwen her credit card. “I was hoping for a relief from the heat in here, but not as such.”

“Sorry about that,” Gwen tried not to stammer. “The air conditioning broke yesterday and neither of the maintenance workers can't come in until next week.”

“That’s terrible,” Morgana frowned. “It must get pretty awful in here.”

“Uh huh,” Gwen smiled nervously as she passed Morgana her receipt. “It really can.”

“Well, have a great day!” Morgana smiled as Merlin called out her drink order and she took it from his outstretched hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Y-yeah!” Gwen said a little too enthusiastically. “Tomorrow!”

Merlin snorted as Morgana turned away, and the moment she was out the door, Gwen hit his arm harder than necessary. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“You’re so gay for her,” Merlin sang under his breath. “This is worse than Elena. And you dated her for _six months._ You’ve met this woman _twice._ ”

“Her name’s Morgana,” Gwen shot back, and then bit her lip in realization. “Wow, I’m so gay for her.”

“Um, excuse me?”

Now Gwen _really_ wanted to die of embarrassment as she turned to see the middle-aged man standing impatiently at the counter, a small queue forming behind him. The man drummed his fingers on the desk as he glared at the baristas. Gwen felt her face heat up as she babbled apologies.

Merlin just laughed.

The bastard.

* * *

 

Over the next few weeks, Gwen continued to see Morgana, who continued to order an iced breve with an extra shot. They had actually had a few conversations about Gwen’s impending graduation from uni and Morgana’s upcoming job interview at a hotel chain. They laughed and joked and talked about how hot it was outside and how the air conditioner _still_ hadn’t been fixed.

It was nice.

Gwen’s heart was constantly in overdrive, but it was nice.

On Friday, Gwen was working with Leon, not Merlin, which was infinitely better, because Leon was nice and sweet and would let Gwen be the one to sit on the cooler when there was no one in the shop, unlike Merlin, who insisted that Gwen battle him with straws used as swords to see who would get the seat.

Leon was much more the gentleman.

And then Morgana came in with a stroller with two kids and Gwen felt what little hope existed within her soul disintegrate.

“I’ll get your breve,” Gwen told her brightly, and quickly distracted herself with the routine of pouring shots, fighting with her emotions. Morgana had looked pretty young, but everyone had kids at different ages. She could have been anywhere between twenty and twenty-five, all of which were legitimate ages to have two kids. Though Gwen could barely fathom children at her meager twenty-one years of age, everyone was different.

But they could also be siblings, or a friend’s kids, or her babysitting charges. Anything was possible, Gwen reasoned with herself.

She should probably just accept the fact that Morgana was a straight-married mum without giving any room for the other thought, because then at least she wouldn’t get her hopes up.

“Gwen, are you alright?” Leon gave her a concerned look from the kitchen as he wiped down the fridges. Leon was the master of concerned looks, but Gwen really didn’t want to share right now.

“Fine!” She squeaked as she popped a lid on the drink, turning and reaching over the counter to pass it to Morgana, who, instead of wearing her usual calm, smiling, attractive expression looked…a little frazzled.

Well, it was nice to know that she was human, at least.

“Could I get a peach smoothie as well?” Morgana asked, her eyes soft and tired and Gwen wanted to kiss her eyelids.

Shit.

“Of course,” Gwen replied, but was cut off by one of the boys in the stroller screeching “Stwabewy!”

“You will drink what I buy!” Morgana snapped her head toward the boy who looked about four. The one in the seat beneath him looked a little younger, maybe two. She turned back to Gwen, wincing slightly. “Make that a strawberry?”

“Sure,” Gwen gave her a sympathetic smile. For once, she didn’t feel like the troll to Morgana’s fairy princess. She was more like the troll to Morgana’s unicorn, or something like that.

“Sorry about this – they’re my father’s girlfriend’s kids, because my father is utterly incapable of dating someone his own age,” Morgana shook her head vehemently, but a chorus of angels sang in Gwen’s mind. “She’s the twenty-eight to his fifty, and when they go on dates, _I_ get to babysit.” She suddenly broke off, her smile becoming less of a benevolent grace and more one of awkward geniality. “Sorry, I’m oversharing. I don’t do that a lot, but –”

“Sounds like a tough situation,” Gwen said, trying to hide how thrilled she was that she knew a little tiny bit of Morgana’s life.

“It is, but what I was going to say is that I feel like I know you a lot better than I do,” Morgana smiled and Gwen’s heart melted just the tiniest bit. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“So,” Leon’s voice startled her, and she turned to find his eyes dancing with amusement.

“Yes, yes, I know,” Gwen stuck her tongue out petulantly. “I have a big gay crush on her. I can’t believe Merlin told you. That rat bastard. Did you know that he only owns three pairs of socks? And that his childhood teddy bear is still under his bed? And –”

“Actually, Merlin didn’t tell me anything,” Leon interrupted her, snorting with laughter. Gwen stopped short with a glare. “Though I’m glad you think that we’re close enough that you can share your private life with me. I guess I’ll have to break the news to Gwaine that he doesn’t have shot with you.”

“I’m bi,” Gwen muttered under her breath, before a thought occurred to her. “…You don’t have to tell Gwaine that. He still doesn’t have a shot with me.”

* * *

 

Gwen had the next two days off, where she could successfully avoid confrontation and watch The Office with her tabby cat, Missy Munchkin, but she was thrown back into reality soon enough.

“Gwaine is utterly heartbroken at the news of your unwillingness to let him bone you,” Merlin said conversationally as Gwen burned her fingertips off as she poured as nasty-hot shot into a cup. “Though he says that the next time the two of you are on shift together, he’ll give a list of lesbians that he knows and will offer to be your wingman.”

“He’d make a good wingman,” Gwen called over her shoulder as she raced to the sink to pour cold water over her scalding fingertips. “Haaave you met Gwen?”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t make that reference,” Merlin raised a judgmental eyebrow. Gwen stuck her tongue out at him.

Gwen headed out to the counter again as the phone rang and Merlin picked it up and immediately started listing off item numbers from their recent ingredient order, and Gwen didn’t want to deal with that.

She was starting to wish she’d gotten to the phone sooner when she saw Morgana standing at the register, accompanied by a fit blond-haired man.

“I’ll start your breve,” Gwen told Morgana as she approached. “And what can I get for your – friend here?”

The blond man made a contemplative face. “Promise not to judge me too harshly for getting a hot chocolate?”

“No problem,” Gwen grinned, but her insides weren’t too pleased with this whole affair. She knew it was stupid, but she had honestly felt some kind of bond growing between her and Morgana. It was harder with girls, and Gwen knew she couldn’t just put her number on Morgana’s cup, but she thought maybe sometime Morgana might come in when Gwen was getting off and they might sit and talk and maybe grab a drink sometime, which could lead to acquaintanceship or friendship or making out.

Whichever.

“Here are your drinks,” Gwen finished a few minutes later after an unfortunate mishap where she didn’t aerate the milk properly because she was too busy thinking about Morgana’s eyelashes.

“Thanks so much, Gwen,” Morgana grinned at her before turning to the blond man. “Gwen’s my favorite barista.”

Gwen’s heart couldn’t help but flutter a bit even as the man rolled his eyes. “Yes, you are the kind of person to have a favorite barista. I have a meeting I need to get to.”

“Meetings, meeting, meetings,” Morgana snorted judgmentally in the man’s direction before making eye contact with Gwen, eyes glimmering with mirth as if to say ‘boyfriends, huh?’

The man handed Gwen his card to pay for the drinks, and Gwen felt even worse looking at his name engraved on it. She had memorized Morgana’s – Pendragon – and had done a minimal amount of Facebook stalking. This man – Arthur – had the same last name.

So Morgana was straight-married after all. Brilliant.

This was why Gwen was so bad at dating. She always had to pick the people who could never be interested in her, whether it was Morgana or Mithian the straight girl or Lancelot the world-traveler emboldened with wanderlust, she was exceptionally awful at finding people to date.

“Have a good day,” Gwen handed Arthur his card back and tried not to think about erasing him from existence. He’d never done anything to her. It wasn’t fair to him.

She’d only known Morgana for a month or so, and only through meetings with a countertop between them. Gwen shouldn’t feel like her heart was exploding in her chest.

“See you tomorrow, Gwen!” Morgana said brightly as she waved. Arthur gave a flick of his hand as well, but his eyes were fixated somewhere else in the middle distance. Despite Arthur’s earlier claim of having a meeting, Morgana dragged him toward one of the tables on the far side of the room, pulling him along by the hand.

“What’s the matter?” Merlin asked her, coming out of the kitchen, phone pressed down against his chest, as he was most likely on hold. “Did you get an order for six espresso macchiatos, one of them half-calf, two decaf, three with nonfat milk, one with soy, and all of them with a cherry on top?”

“Morgana has a boyfriend, or a husband, or whatever,” Gwen muttered under her breath, angry that this was affecting her so much, and really not wanting Morgana to hear this. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m sick and tired of her showing up here and being so pretty and nice while I’m...bleh. I don’t want to be at work for three more hours.”

“I know, dear,” Merlin smiled at her sympathetically, walking fully out into the bar area to shrug an arm around Gwen’s shoulder. “Who’s her boyfriend? Is he still here?”

“Yeah,” Gwen said with a sigh, but was cheered slightly by the idea that Merlin would derail the man’s entire existence for her at the sight of him, which made Gwen feel minimally better. “They’re sitting at that table over there.”

Merlin turned to look and then started to laugh, loud and open-mouthed, and Gwen glared up at him. “What the hell? You’re supposed to be my friend here!”

“Gwen, I don’t think you have much to worry about,” Merlin said, still struggling to contain his laughter.

“Of course I do!” Gwen, suddenly angry, gestured toward the man far too extravagantly, and immediately realized she was being obvious. She brought her voice down to a hush. “He’s fit as hell, seems like he’s a pretty nice guy, funny, ordered a hot chocolate, and, oh yeah, he’s a _guy.”_

Merlin just shook his head in amusement. “Gwen, it’d be pretty hard for him to be Morgana’s boyfriend, considering the fact that he’s, well. _Mine_.”

“Your – what?”

“Mine,” Merlin repeated, a smile playing at his lips. “My boyfriend, Gwen.”

“You –” Gwen momentarily forgot about Morgana’s existence. “You have a _boyfriend_? And you didn’t _tell_ me?”

* * *

 

A few days later, Arthur was in the shop again, this time alone, and approached the counter with a slightly nervous smile. “Hey, Gwen.”

“Hi, Arthur,” Gwen smiled at him much more genuinely now that she knew that he too was a part of the great gay love conspiracy and not married to Morgana. She and Merlin deduced that Morgana had to be his sister, and Merlin had texted Arthur to confirm it. “I’m still very cross that Merlin never told me about you.”

“Well, you know Merlin,” Arthur said with a shrug. “He’s either letting you know exactly what he feels about everything or leaving you completely in the dark. There is no in between.”

“You understand!” Gwen said, ridiculously pleased with the fact that Arthur got Merlin like she did. Not a lot of people understood the intricacies of Merlin. He wasn’t easy to figure out. “Well, of course you do. You’re his _boyfriend_.”

“He used that word?” Arthur said almost involuntarily, for he blushed a bright shade of crimson and Gwen felt like cooing. “I should let you know that now that Morgana knows as well, she wants to go out with us, and said that you should come to. I would expect to hear a long, detailed plan about this in the next week.”

Gwen’s heart seized up at the idea of spending time with Morgana, but she had to remind herself sternly that just because Morgana wasn’t married to Arthur didn’t mean that Gwen had a shot. “Yeah, that would be great,” she said instead. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“The tall glass of water in the back room having his fingertips burned off as he attempts to bake?” Arthur smiled a bit nervously and Gwen wanted to jump up and down because even though she clearly wasn’t going to get her gay love affair anytime soon, Merlin and Arthur could have the primetime spot and Gwen could get popcorn and her cat and watch the drama unfold.

“Go on back,” Gwen bit her lip. “Just be out of here by the time Gaius comes in to make sure we haven’t burned the place down.”

“Thanks,” Arthur sidled past her. Gwen chanced a look toward the kitchen a few moments later to see Merlin flipping Arthur off, albeit with a huge grin on his face.

Typical.

* * *

 

The best thing about going out with Morgana, Arthur, and Merlin was the fact that Gwen would actually look attractive when she was around Morgana, for once in her life. She wasn’t wearing her work shirt, there were no stains on her clothing, and the goddamn air conditioning would not be malfunctioning.

So naturally, Gwen spilled red wine on her white off-the-shoulder dress two minutes into dinner.

“Shit,” she said, tears forming in her eyes, humiliation eating at her insides. She had been looking forward to this so much. The previous night, Morgana had stayed at the coffee shop during closing to make plans with her, and even though Gwaine was there cleaning around them and mouthing ‘get it’ to Gwen behind Morgana’s back, it had been a wonderful night.

So of course, this had to happen.

“Hey, hey, it’s fine,” Morgana actually lifted a hand up to press against Gwen’s shoulder, which. Might make this entire ordeal worth it. “It happens to everybody. Look!”

And to Gwen’s utter amazement, Morgana took her glass of wine and poured it directly into her lap.

“You didn’t have to do that!” Gwen was too shocked to feel much of anything, and Morgana just laughed at her.

“I never thought you’d _ever_ ruin a piece of clothing as long as you lived,” Arthur raised a confused and shocked eyebrow toward his sister, eyeing her as if he wasn’t quite sure who she was anymore.

“This is a fun trend,” Merlin announced, picking up his own wine glass before turning to Arthur with mirth in his eyes. “Can I dump wine on you?”

“No!” Arthur said, affronted.

“Cool,” Merlin said, and immediately splashed some against Arthur’s shirt.

“I hate you,” Arthur glared at Merlin, who smiled sunnily back. Arthur picked up his own glass menacingly. “I’m gonna dump this over your head. Don’t test me.”

“You wouldn’t,” Merlin raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

Clearly, Arthur took this as a personal challenge.

They were kicked out of the restaurant mere moments later.

* * *

 

“I told you we would have fun,” Morgana threw on arm around Gwen’s shoulder as they swayed through the street, Morgana slightly tipsy from the bottle of gin they’d gotten at the liquor store.

Knowing that no respectable place would take them, the four of them went to Arthur’s flat, after their quick stop for alcohol, and sat on the floor in a circle and played Monopoly  all night. Merlin had floored all of them, which ensued a lot of mocking on his part toward Arthur, who had just gotten his business degree and had a high-up position with his father. Merlin clearly thought he was better suited for the job, which led to lots of pushing and shoving and a little bit of chaste kissing that made Morgana and Gwen go ‘awwww’ very loudly and often.

Gwen hadn’t drank very much, and volunteered to walk Morgana home. Merlin had waggled his eyebrows at her before they left, but he knew that Gwen would never in a million years try to come onto Morgana like this. Or at all.

“We did,” Gwen tried to hide her smile.

“You’re my best friend, Gwen,” Morgana told her with a giggly smile as they approached her building. Gwen tried to ignore the fluttery feeling in her stomach.

“I’m just your barista,” Gwen told her fondly, but Morgana emphatically shook her head.

“No, no, you’re my friend. I like you. You’re fun. I like you.”

Gwen didn’t think she’d ever forget the exact tone and inflection of those words as she deposited Morgana at her doorstep.

* * *

 

“I’ll get started on your drink!” Gwen called to Morgana when she saw her at the back of a particularly long queue, and Morgana mouthed a thank you over the noise and bustle.

It took a while for Morgana to reach the front of the queue, but her drink was waiting for her when she did. Leon handled the transaction, Gwen too busy making other drinks to take care of both. She handed Leon the cup a few minutes before Morgana was at the register, and frowned when she saw Leon write something on it out of both her view and Morgana’s view before eventually handing it to her.

“What did you write on that cup?” Gwen asked him as the rush slowly dwindled down.

“Your phone number,” Leon said conversationally and Gwen might have stopped breathing.

“Leon…she’s already got my number, I gave it to her last week when we were planning our night out,” Gwen explained, not sure what the point of this was but knowing she wouldn’t like it.

“Yeah, but this is romantic and cliché and shows that you’re interested in her, _especially_ if she already _has_ your number,” Leon said, and sounded too smug to be Leon. “You get to be really cutesy and romantic now. You’re welcome.”

“Leon!” Gwen’s voice raised several octaves in pitch. “She’s probably straight, and even if she’s not, why would she be interested in me?”

“Because you’re perfect?” Leon said, his voice not lacking in genuineness. “Gwen, if she doesn’t like you, she’s an idiot. But you’ve got to take a chance once in a while.”

“This –” Gwen cut herself off with a sigh. Her mind was still in overdrive, but Leon had a point. She regarded him somewhat suspiciously. “This is a very sneaky, underhanded, Merlin-like ploy, Leon. Are you sure that this was your idea?”

“Scout’s honor,” Leon raised a hand, and Gwen trusted his word because. Well. It was Leon. Leon was incapable of doing anything mean-spirited. He had to really believe in this, and in Gwen.

That made her feel nice inside, which balanced out the overwhelming panic quite nicely.

* * *

 

_Gwen I already have your number!! But thanks for the reminder :)_

Gwen stared at the text for a couple minutes, wondering what she should do, if Morgana had read into the subtext of it. She turned to Missy Munchkin, who gazed up at her with soft cat eyes.

“What should I do?” She asked her cat, who mewed and nudged her hand in response.

_Haha sorry Leon was playing a joke at work, nbd_

_By putting your number on my cup?? Gweeeeen do you liiiike me?_

Gwen nearly jumped out of her skin. Was Morgana being witty and sarcastic, not taking Gwen seriously? _Was_ she taking Gwen seriously, but she wasn’t serious about it? Or was Morgana as equally serious as Gwen was?

She remembered Leon’s advice – take a chance.

Well, Leon was generally a pretty smart guy.

_……well maybe a little……_

_Liiike liiike?_

_I’m not having this conversation over a text message_

_Maybe you’d like to have it over dinner instead? My place on Saturday after your shift ends. I’ll cook you dinner_

Gwen’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest; this couldn’t be happening. Could it? This wasn’t real. This was a recurring fantasy, a pipe dream. This wasn’t reality.

And yet everything felt so real.

_Are you for real or are you making fun of me? what did Merlin tell you?_

_Should Merlin have told you something? I like you, Gwen, and I wanna date you and I’m pretty sure you wanna date me too. So how about it? Dinner? Movie? I can be pretty classy when I want to be._

_You’re always classy_

_Is that a yes?_

_Yes. It’s a yes._

* * *

“Here’s your iced breve, extra shot,” Gwen beamed across the counter as she passed her girlfriend – her _girlfriend_ – her signature drink.

The girlfriend in question sighed happily. “My favorite barista.”

“My favorite customer,” Gwen grinned and leaned across the counter for a peck on the cheek.

“Gwen!” A shout from Leon cut her off a moment later. “The air conditioner just broke again!”

“See what you’ve done now?” Gwen teased Morgana lightly as she waved her out the door. Gwen could already feel the heat trickling through the building once more, but somehow, she didn’t seem to care as much as she used to.

It didn’t matter if she looked like a sweaty troll now. She didn’t need to impress anyone. Morgana was already hers.


End file.
